Prudential Financial announced it is moving its $50 billion retail brokerage and investment advisory unit from Fidelity Investments to the platform of LPL Financial Holdings.
The move is designed to “enhance the customer and financial professional experience for Prudential’s retail wealth management business, Prudential Advisors, and accelerate growth for both firms,” the announcement said.
Under the agreement, LPL will become the custodian for the more than 2,600 Prudential Advisors' financial professionals. The insurance company will exit Fidelity’s National Financial Services’ brokerage and RIA platform, a transition that is expected to be completed in the latter part of 2024, subject to receipt of regulatory approval and other conditions, the announcement said.
Following the transition, Prudential Advisors will continue to offer services to clients in all 50 states, “enhanced by the improved capabilities of the LPL platform and utilizing LPL for clients’ brokerage and investment advisory needs, the company said.
“LPL’s best-in-class platform will significantly improve capabilities to help our advisors serve clients and grow their practice even faster,” Brad Hearn, president of retail advice and solutions at Prudential, said in a statement. “With this agreement, we are further investing in our Prudential Advisors business, while streamlining and reducing back-office resource demands."
“The partnership-oriented spirit of this agreement between LPL and Prudential is a significant milestone in our mission to offer sophisticated wealth management capabilities to more enterprise firms and their advisors,” said Ken Hullings, LPL’s executive vice president, enterprise business development. “Prudential has a revered reputation of being a pillar of the financial services industry. They have also been a valued partner of LPLs since 1989 in the life and annuity space. We look forward to our expanded relationship and welcoming Prudential Advisors to our platform.”
According to LPL’s latest earnings report, the firm has 21,942 financial advisors, a net gain of 421 from the prior quarter and 1,071 more than it had a year ago. Total advisory and brokerage assets have grown to $1.24 trillion.